There's a prophet on a mountain and he's making up dinner
With long division and writing crop
Anybody can feel like a winner
When it's served up piping hot

But the people aren't looking for a handout
They're America's working corps
Can this be what they voted for?

Let them eat war
Let them eat war
That's how to ration the poor
Let them eat war
Let them eat war

There's an urgent need to feed
Declining crime

From the force to the union shops
The war economy is making new jobs
But the people who benefit most
Are breaking bread with their benevolent hosts

You never stole from the rich to give to the poor
All they ever gave to them was a war
And a foreign enemy to deplore

Let them eat war
Let them eat war
That's how to ration the poor
Let them eat war
Let them eat war

There's an urgent need to feed
Declining crime

We've got to kill 'em in the end Before they reach for their checks
Squeeze some blue collars Let them bleed from their necks
Seize a few dollars from the people who sweat
'Cause it's freedom or death and they won't question it
At a job site the boss is god like
Conditioned workhorses park at a stoplight
Seasoned vets with their feet in nets
A stones throw away from a rock fight
But not tonight, feed 'em death

Here comes another ration (feed them death)
'Cause they're the finest in the nation (feed them death)
But there's nothing left to feed them
When it's freedom or it's death

Let them eat war
Let them eat war
That's how to ration the poor
Let them eat war
Let them eat war

General CommentGreg Graffin et al take a nod from George Orwell's 1984 with this "War is Peace" song.

Clearly about the government and those in charge of a nation creating a 'war' for the poor and a 'foreign enemy for them to deplore', thus making them ignore all that is wrong with their country and make sacrifices which are not needed.

well that is a claim that some make, that wars such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam (see Dead Kennedy's Kinky sex makes the world go round and youll see what the thoughts are) basically to rid the country of the poor so they dont have to pay them for doing nothing essentially.

General CommentHaha. Yeah.
Extra point: you probably know this, but Marie Antoinette's solution to poverty was 'if they have no bread, give them cake to eat'. Song title implies that GWB says 'let them it war'.
Obviousness.

General CommentSimple meaning: Using war and fear to control a population. Refers to Bush's use of "the war on terrorism" to control Americans' actions and thoughts, swinging public opinion his way and making it easier for everybody to swallow that the country is going to shit.

"we've got to kill 'em and eat 'em
before they reach for their checks
squeeze some blue collars
let them bleed from their necks
seize a few dollars from the people who sweat
cause it's freedom or death and they won't question it "

This all refers to the government being able to oppress people in the interest of "national security", just by presenting a threat and saying that it is necessary.